They'll take a break from O.C. crime, in Katmandu

Farrah Emami is used to answering questions about murders, molestations, corruption.

That's been her job since 2006 when she was hired – at age 23 – as the spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

She writes press releases that detail District Attorney's Office actions related to criminal charges, convictions, sentencings and parole hearings. She answers questions from news media about ongoing cases. Sometimes, she stands in front of television cameras or radio microphones and describes developments in court cases.

Her work is almost always about crime and crime victims, evil and sadness, death and misery.

Emami loves her job. She says she helps the public understand the intricacies of prosecuting cases and provides information that helps victims navigate the judicial system.

But sometimes, she adds, the evil things that bad people do dull her otherwise happy outlook.

That's part of the reason why she chose to make an off-duty contribution to society in a place – and in a manner – that's as far from the courts and crimes of Orange County as possible.

On Friday Emami and colleague and friend Anna Chinowth – a prosecutor in the writs and appeals department of the District Attorney's Office – will begin a 30-hour journey to Katmandu, Nepal. There, they'll work with children being raised in an orphanage and teach English to young Buddhist monks.

Emami will use accumulated vacation time to travel halfway around the world to make an impact. She is paying her own way for the flight, food and lodging, and she will bring a suitcase full of books, coloring books, art pads and supplies for the kids in the orphanage.

“I have always wanted to take a really big trip and do something totally unique,” she said. “I thought volunteering was a really good way to do that.”

Emami, who has volunteered for causes as diverse as Make-A-Wish Foundation and survivors of human trafficking, said she gravitates toward organizations that tend to bring joy and smiles to people in need of both.

“That's what I need,” she said. “Working here, we see a lot of bad things and deal with a lot of devastation in innocent people's lives.”

Emami is getting married next year to a Marine, a Cobra helicopter pilot who deployed last month – his third overseas assignment – to a ship in the Persian Gulf.

She said she planned her “volunteercation” in part to coincide with her fiancé's deployment.

She was planning on traveling to Nepal alone, until she mentioned her plans over lunch with Chinowth.

Chinowth, it turned out, was thinking in similar terms.

“I was looking for someplace to go to get my mind off work and help other people at the same time,” Chinowth said. “It's half about wanting to help others, and half about wanting to gain a different perspective on my life.”

Nepal, Chinowth said, sounded perfect.

It was for Emami, too. Her parents were both born outside the United States – her father is from Iran and her mother is from England – but she grew up in Orange County.

She was co-president of the pep club at El Toro High and active in the school's anti-drunken driving club. She took journalism classes.

She earned a degree in communications at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and contemplated a career in political communications.

In 2003, she worked as a White House intern. She said she remembers when President George W. Bush walked over to her as she was handing out brochures at a kid-oriented event on the White House lawn and thanked her for her work.

“If the president of the United States can take the time to say thank you, then everyone can take the time and say thank you,” she said.

The experience boosted her resume. It also helped her beat out dozens of more seasoned communications experts to land the job as public information officer for the District Attorney's Office.

Five years later, in 2011, Emami was selected by OC Metro magazine as one of 20 women to watch. At the time she was 28 and conducting a self-analysis, thinking about the things in life she wanted to accomplish before she turned 30.

Two of her goals were travel and community service.

“A huge aspect of this is the traveling,” Emami said.

Emami knows she and Chinowth may not make a lasting impact on the kids at the orphanage. But she hopes the kids will realize that someone cares about them enough to travel and spend time with them.

The biggest impact, Emami said, may be on her.

She's looking forward to immersing herself in a new culture in a foreign country where the economic status is so drastically different.

“I love the idea of going someplace that is totally different from where I live now.”

The woman who runs the orphanage in Katmandu was born into a higher caste in Nepal. She gave up her social status when she chose to work helping children who did not have parents or were abandoned.

The orphanage has 15 to 20 kids, from infants to 10-year-olds, whose food, lodging, medical and educational needs are provided through the generosity of others.

“That's what I am hoping for… to go and be refreshed and do something different, fun and worthwhile,” Emami said.

“It's easy to get bogged down in all the ugliness we deal with here on a regular basis. So to have the opportunity to go somewhere else and do something that's happy… is exciting.”